Mali: Female circumcision and early marriage violate human rights, women activists say

Early marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM) are widely practiced in impoverished Mali where together they constitute the single biggest threat to the human rights of young girls, according to aid organisations. In the village of Yelimane, 125 km north of Kayes and close to the Mauritanian border, nearly all girls undergo some form of female circumcision before they are married off at puberty. For residents of Yelimane, like many across impoverished Mali, the two violations have become traditional culture. "In Mali, the two forms of human rights abuses most widely faced by children are early marriage and excision," said Berthe Aissanta Bengaly, minister for women, children and the family.